Aidan Xephier (Xeph) - Kadzait Alpha
Basic Information
Birth Name: Aidan Xephier
Aliases: Xeph, Dan
Place of Birth: Canberra, Australia
Age: (real and apparant) Actual: 55. Apparent: 35.5 (Gifted at 16) Born in 1951.
Male/Female: Male
Current Occupation: Alpha of the Kadzait, doctor, veterinarian
Past Occupation: (If different from above) n/a
Appearance
Hair Color: Dark brown
Length and Style: Short, straight
Eye Color: One gray (left), one green (right)
Skin Color: tanned
Height: 6'7"Â?
Weight: 253 lbs
Nationality: Mixed Scottish and Northern European, but born and raised in Australia.
Race: (I.E. Vampire, Werewolf, human etc.) Werewolf
Body Type: Muscular, very athletic.
Gifted Form (Werewolf): Dark russet reddish brown, one gray eye and one green, small white crescent-shaped mark on the top of his muzzle just behind his nose.
Description (if an NPC) or name of your creator(if a PC) ( Please be as specific as possible, who your creator/gifter was, why he chose to change you, where is he/she now?): Gifted by Liam Xephier, his father and the former Alpha of the Kadzait. Changed because that is his family's tradition. Liam now lives in Australia.
Personal Questions
1. Describe your character's personality: Xeph is somewhat mercurial in his moods; he is first and foremost the Alpha of his Pack, taking his duty very seriously and always putting their needs in front of his own. However, he has a tendency to 'test' people, feeling out the boundaries of their patience and/or temperament with minor annoyances. He can be an unquestionably loyal friend or an overbearing, cocky pain.
Xeph can take it or leave it when it comes to manners, formality, propriety, or even social skills. However, it should be noted that in most situations he will behave civilly and politely, particularly if he doesn't know the parties involved well. He seems to reserve his more unsavory moments for a few select, questionably special individuals. But everyone needs to de-stress somehow, right?
Xeph was born in Australia and still has a rather heavy Australian accent. His childhood play was incredibly free and easy but also not abundant, being the only child in his family and the son of the Pack Alpha. Strict rules and regs weren't necessary for Xeph, who even at a young age had a strong sense of responsibility.
Although very highly educated, Xeph rarely acts the part of the scholar. He is skilled and competent while at work, but he definitely leaves work at work. With the few people he is comfortable with, he can be laid back and almost crude in his humor at times. Once again, his mercurial manner lends itself to a wide range of expression, from quiet and thoughtful to suggestive to raucous.
2. Describe how your character would appear to a stranger (I.E. typical dress, way they carry themselves etc.) : Xeph appears to be in his mid 30's and can be considered the textbook 'good guy' in most situations, if one were to judge on looks alone. His features are well-sculpted, his face friendly and not at all hard on the eyes. Like most of his kind he is in excellent physical shape. He isn't heavily built. He's well-muscled and athletic, but in a lean way rather than having a thickly-muscled frame. That said, at his height it probably doesn't make much difference to the average onlooker.
Xeph tends to dress casually. At work, a lab coat, but underneath khakis and a t-shirt. LL Bean makes a tidy profit from him. He rarely wears shoes if he can avoid it; he wears loafers to work, and sneakers or sandals if he's out in public. 'No shoes no service' is the bane of his existence.
Xeph fits the 'good doctor' role perfectly, and although his sheer height can be somewhat intimidating, his manner in public or with strangers is usually so friendly that his size is soon forgotten. However, if circumstances warrant it, true to his mercurial nature, Xeph can be incredibly territorial and/or protective. His natural instinct is to be friendly unless he feels the situation warrants otherwise.
3.What does your character like? Sushi, raw meat, sports, competition, animals in general, being annoying on occasion, traveling, camping, getting the last word. Loves action/adventure movies, epics. Almost any kind of music but oldies in particular; the Beatles, Moody Blues. Likes things laid-back but has respect for structure.
4. Dislike? Anything cooked, vegetables, cats in particular, long books, boring seminars, violence without reason, bullying, oppression. Doesn't much like heavy metal or rap. Not a big fan of 'high society' or socialites.
5. (For humans) Describe what abilities you see your character having if they were turned. N/A
6. What are your fears? Xeph's fears revolve largely around the fact that he burdens himself with the entirety of running his Pack. He fears for their safety constantly. In particular, Xeph fears the fact that others may be injured or killed as a result of his decisions. He feels he has made the right choices for his Pack, but has difficulty accepting the deaths of others as necessary. A bit of a control freak, Xeph feels that in order to set an example for the rest of his Pack, he needs to be 'perfect' himself, and maintains a healthy fear of losing control, not necessarily over other people, but over himself.
Xeph also fears sleeping, to an extent. His vivid nightmares present reoccurring images that are unsettling at best, playing on deeply-rooted feelings of inadequacy left by his father. Xeph forces his own insomnia, sleeping an hour here and two hours there as needed, and can be found most nights engaging himself in almost anything but sleeping.
7. What are your character's strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths:
-Makes the most of his abilities by seeing both sides of them. He can use his uncanny knack for knowing what is needed ... and NOT do that one thing. He can resist the urge to change during the full moon but doesn't usually do so. Xeph is very openminded, and will try to see both sides of any situation.
-Xeph has a great deal of willpower, and although he can sometimes be insecure, he is well aware of his position and responsibility and uses that willpower and presence to conceal his own doubts. It also gives him the staying power and endurance of spirit to see a thing through from start to end, such as the revolution of the Illamar.
-Xeph has a great knack for knowing when patience and a gentle touch are needed, or when the situation calls for bluntness or force, and does not hesitate to use either tactic to acheive his means. He has a vision for his Pack and devotes all of his time and energy to making it happen.
Weaknesses:
-Takes the responsibility for his Pack on his shoulders alone; often has to be persuaded into delegating. Feels personally responsible for every Pack member even though he understands some things are beyond his influence or control.
-Xeph is not necessarily in touch with his emotional side. He sometimes holds himself apart from his Pack, almost overzealous in his attempts to protect and smooth the way for them. As a result he can sometimes be distant and intimidating, although those who approach him will find him welcoming and amiable.
-Xeph often drives himself beyond his own endurance due to his issues with sleeping and nightmares. Often, his close associates have to bully him into taking time to rest. Xeph can be a bit of a control freak at times, most notably concerning himself. He feels his duties as Pack Alpha mean he has to be in control of everything at all times, from his Changes to his abject refusal to admit when he needs rest or a vacation.
Hobbies & Skills
Adaptable traveler
Speaks a smattering of many different languages (various dialects of India, Australia, Asia, and South Africa... one or two from Europe) and is conversant in several (Afrikaans, Zulu, German).
Knows ASL and Auslan.
Reliable outdoors (camping, basic survival)
Loves athletics... jogging, swimming, tennis, anything active.
Has double degrees... DVM and MD. Very highly educated.
Has been trained to fight by Hammerthynn - various forms of hand-to-hand combat, guns.
In-depth knowledge of holistic medicine and herbal remedies.
Abilities: Tough (2), Lunar Apprentice (2), Retention (5), Canine Companion (5), Caretaker's Twinkle (10)
- 1 remaining
Flaws: Dog Person (2), Insomnia/Aversion to Sleep (2), Savage Palate (10), Night Terror (10)
-1 remaining
Cosmetic Traits(These must be minor, see the rules) : Mismatched eyes, ring of scars around his right bicep where he was Gifted by his father. Left handed.
Quirks and Habits worthy of mention: Hates to wear shoes; will avoid doing so whenever possible.
Personal History (Please be detailed, this creates your basis for your character)
Aidan Xephier is the only son of Liam and Lily Xephier. He was born in 1951 in Canberra, Australia, where he spent most of his youth. His mother Lily insisted on few things in life, but one of them was that Aidan not be uprooted immediately... an odd attitude for a werewolf mother to have, but one that was possibly ingrained in her as a human child.
By the time he was 9, Aidan's father considered him old enough to accompany him on his journeys. As the Alpha of the Kadzait, he made regular visits around the world to the various packs and gatherings of their brothers and sisters. Aidan, a somewhat serious child with a tendency to be very responsible even at a young age, was introduced to a vast selection of cultures and languages.
Liam saw in his son the same stubbornness and strength of will that had brought him to his position as Alpha, and in Aidan there was the chance for his line to continue in that role. He nurtured in Aidan all the qualities he considered important in a leader: steadfast adherence to one's beliefs, physical and mental prowess, observance.
Aidan soaked it all in like a sponge and for a long time, seemed to be turning into a little copy of his father. Such is the way of children when they're impressionable. However, Aidan had a mature enough outlook on life even as an ungifted youth that in his early teens he began to look beyond what seemed like the perfect life.
There was an air of competition about Liam that was often unsettling. He had a drive to be the best, the fastest, the strongest. It had fueled his rise to dominance and made him the Alpha even among other Alphas. His lupine instincts also made him aggressively territorial, and young Aidan began to wonder if that was the cause for his mother's quiet aloofness.
Lily Xephier was a gentle woman, soft to Liam's edge, deceptively fragile and delicate. She socialized with very few people outside of her son, her husband, and her husband's most trusted friend Hammerthynn. With the selfishness of childhood Aidan assumed that was because he was the center of her world, her sole concern. As he grew, he began to wonder if it was more because Lily was the peacemaker. She held herself apart because she wanted to give no one a chance to trigger Liam's territorial instinct. The wrong glance sent him into a jealous, possessive frenzy, and his volatile temper eventually became his downfall.
Aidan saw all of these things with human eyes before his Gifting at 16, and then observed them again through Amaroq eyes. Now the tensions became even more apparent, including the differences that hadn't been visible to him before. The trio of leaders... Liam, the unquestionable Alpha. Lily and Hammerthynn, the two associates who kept him sane, often thrown together in spite of what seemed to be their obvious reluctance. Hammerthynn was the only one Liam could trust to see to Lily's protection, and although she was hardly ever appreciative of his gruff bluntness they were grudging friends and first and then partners in their singular cause to hold fast the stability of the Pack.
It was this balance that held them through some tight times, particularly the discovery of the Werewolves' past, their exile at the hands of Vampires, the discovery of the Illamar that humans had not always been treated like slaves and inferiors by the Kadzait.
As Aidan watched the world around him, he developed his own ideas and began to come loose from his father's hold. He associated freely with the Illamar, defied his father by pursuing a degree in med school in addition to veterinary school. He began to understand their desire for equality, rights. The more spiritual of the two, Aidan paid close attention to the deepest of his inherited memories, and began to think that Liam had it wrong, that the Illamar had their roots in equality rather than servitude.
The tension between the two became palpable, and although it was generally assumed that Aidan had the drive and the will and would indeed be the Alpha when Liam lost his hold, Aidan's support for the Illamar was the tipping point for Liam. Father and son confronted each other over the matter, the restless humans within the Pack ready for murder if necessary, ready to impale themselves on the claws and teeth of Liam's supporters.
Outright war never became necessary, as Aidan issued a Challenge to Liam. In their own Pack territory outside Canberra they finally came to blows, posturing and trying to intimidate each other at first until Liam snapped and launched himself at Aidan. The fight didn't last long; Aidan's youth and strength, his own teeth and claws honed into fine weapons by none other than his father's best friend Hammerthynn, won the battle before so much as a hostile word could be exchanged between the two factions.
The aftermath was anticlimactic. Liam returned to Canberra, taking Lily with him. Hammerthynn remained with Aidan at Lily's request, confidante and advisor. Aidan, going by his nickname Xeph, assumed control of the pack territory and immediately turned things upside down, declaring the Illamar as equals and full Pack members.
Some Amaroq, unsatisfied with the outcome, followed Liam back to Canberra but most of them stayed, their loyalty transferring as most wolves' will to the new dominant wolf. It was Xeph who made the decision to come to Nachton, to set up a rooted, stable community for the Kadzait, a center for all their Pack to come to. He did travel a great deal as his father did , particularly in the first few years of his becoming Alpha, establishing himself with Kadzait all over the world, but with the decision to go to Nachton he tied himself down and now must leave the traveling to Hammerthynn, the reliable Beta who has become something of a surrogate father.
Xeph and Liam have not spoken in over thirty years, although Xeph writes his mother often and talks to her regularly.
OOC Checklist
Player name (online is fine): Foxx
Other Characters you play: Aishe, Kem, Tai, Ysabel
How you came to SA (Other board, friend, etc) TAC
Have you read all the Rules? Yub
Do you understand that this is an adult board with adult content (sometimes graphic and violent in nature)? Bring it on!
This board is adult only. Are you over the age of 18? Uh-huh!